The Australian man who claims to have invented bitcoin a decade ago submitted false documents and lied in a legal dispute with the estate of his former partner, a judge ruled, adding that Craig Wright has to surrender more than $US4 billion ($5.9 billion) of the cryptocurrency.

US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart in Florida, ruled on Monday that the late Dave Kleiman owned half of all bitcoins that Craig mined through 2013, and half of all intellectual property he created, according to a court transcript. That would give title to more than 410,000 bitcoins to Kleiman's estate. One bitcoin was worth $US10,162 on Tuesday.

Reinhart issued the ruling in sanctioning Wright for failing to comply with orders to turn over documents in the Kleiman estate's lawsuit in which it claimed Wright illegally seized the assets and for lying.